1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement for nozzle assembly and particularly to a nozzle assembly that can be disconnected quickly and provides multiple selections of spraying angle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nozzle assembly is being used widely in spraying painting, gardening, pulp and paper industry and circuit board fabrication. Conventional nozzle assembly usually is screwed directly to the piping system of a fluid source. After using for a period of time, the nozzle could accumulate deposits and gets blocked. It therefore has to be disconnected from the piping system regularly for cleaning, maintenance or replacement. The screw connection making this job difficult and time consuming. Hence some quick disconnect nozzle assembly has been disclosed in the prior art to resolve this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,522(Bowen) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,224 (Hamilton) are two of the examples. The nozzle assembly of such type generally includes a nozzle insert connecting with a nozzle body which in turns being screwed to a fluid source. The nozzle body is generally not removable. The nozzle insert connects or disconnects with the nozzle body via a locking means which also provides quick disconnect function. A groove is formed at the tip of the nozzle insert so as to produce a particular spray pattern, that means, the spraying angle of the nozzle assembly is determined by the angular and geometric features of the groove. However, there is one drawback of such a feature, i.e., the spraying angle is normally fixed. When there is a need for changing the spraying angle, or the nozzle body has not been properly connected to the fluid source and should be adjusted, the nozzle body has to be disconnected from the fluid source for adjustment. This process is tedious and also time-consuming.